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Aquilla Flood, a 17-year-old high school senior, was found shot dead in her East Orange, N.J., bedroom, and now police are looking for her 18-year-old boyfriend, Almuqqadin Means, in connection with the killing. Tracie Strahan reports. (Published Thursday, Jun 6, 2013)

Updated at 8:15 PM CST on Thursday, Jun 6, 2013

A 17-year-old high school senior was found shot dead inside her bedroom in East Orange, N.J., and police are looking for her 18-year-old boyfriend, authorities said.

Aquilla Flood was found by a relative just before 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Prosecutors in Essex County said police are searching for Almuqqadin Means, 18, in connection with the killing.

Friends who went to school with Flood told NBC 4 New York the two were dating.

Flood was a student at Campus High School in East Orange, where she was to attend senior prom next week. Finals were canceled at the school after administrators learned of her death.

Friends were stunned by the girl's violent death and said Flood was a popular student with aspirations of attending the Fashion Institute of Technology.

"She was the best person you could ever meet," friend Jadaisha Richardson said at a vigil for Flood Wednesday night.

"She was a sweet girl. She will truly be missed," said Flood's aunt Naimah Hicks. "My heart is totally broken."